Trump Responds To 'Fake News' Report Over Immigration Executive Order
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – President Trump says he's happy that he signed an executive order to stop immigrant families from being separated; calling reports to the contrary "fake news."
Trump was not happy about a report in Monday's New York Times that said he "groused" about signing the executive order.
"The executive order is great. It's something I thought we had to do. We want children staying together," the president said in a joint appearance with the King of Jordan.
"There was a false story, fake news, in the New York Times, just the opposite… I was just saying yesterday before I read this phony story in the New York Times that I was very, very happy that I signed that."
The Department of Homeland Security says it has reunited 522 children with their parents, however there are more than 2,000 children still separated and in shelters.
The House is expected to take up a broad immigration reform bill, but it appears unlikely it will get enough votes to pass. Republican leaders are expected to then shift to a narrower bill focused on keeping families together when they are detained at the border.
"The President has made clear: we are going to continue to prosecute those adults who enter here illegally," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said. "We are going to do everything in our power, however, to avoid separating families."
Despite the current controversies over immigration, the President's base is holding strong. A new Gallup poll says he has a 90 percent approval rating among Republicans.